Method of making separable fastener sliders



t ."Pntented'May 19,1936 l l METHon or MAKING Lsicwiiwintm: d FASTENER SLIDERS` Gideon Sundback, Meadville, Pa., vassigner to `Hooklcss Fastener Company, Meadvilla` Pla., a t, .A corporation of Pennsylvania 1 Application .anual-y 1s, 1928, serialNq. 247,043 zolams. (ciasnew "fThis invention relates to separable fastener sliders and has for its objectlto provide a slider `which is simple `in construction,` short and com-l pact, yet rigid enough to withstand severe operat- 5 ing strains, and in which the cost ofmanufacture f isreduced to a minimum. t

`A separable fastener slider is subjected to severe operating strains which tend to spread it, as when 4the fastener is closed under strain, and also often l0` `tending to contract it, as in' a wringer when used `on washable goods, or accidently in other ways, so` that if a separablefastener is to be serviceab1e,the slider must be rigid. For economic `reasons the be simple to construct fand completew 'l This. invention',` provides a compact, one-piece l sheet metal slider which fulfills thesefrequire-` ments. The slider consists of a. pairof overlying ,L

` device; and

Wings connected by a bent portion which is em-` bossed to form an integral projection lying directly between the wings. The embossed projection maintains "the wings in fixed spaced relation, opposing both expansion and contraction. A portion of one wing is also embossed to provide a projection for attaching a pull device. Among the advantages of this slider are its overall ucompactness, resistance to crushing and spreading, durability, and substantial reduction in cost of manufacture.

The invention is a modification of that disclosed and claimed in my Patent #1,661,144, issued February 28, 1928, in which the slider wings are inwardly connected by an integrally thickened reinforce, and in which one wing is provided with 35 an integrally thickened pull attaching iug. such sliders are usually blanked out of a thick strip of metal by meansof dies, similar to those ern- `ployed in coining processes, which reduce the strip to the desired wing thicknesswhile forming the thickened reinforce and pull attaching lug in the desired positions. Those sliders` have at all timesbeen successful in operation.

An important advantage of the present inven. tion is that the sliders can be blanked out of strip metal ofthe same thickness as the finished slider wings, and the metal simply stretched in the proper places by means of light embossing `diesto form the reinforcing projection and pull attaching lug. This method not only effects a saving in material, but also eliminates the use of heavy coining presses heretofore employed to reduce the stripmetal to the desired wing thickness `while forming the thickened reinforce and 55 pull attaching lug.

Vslider should `require little material, and should as illustratedin Figs. 3, 4 and 5. which serve to The invention will be "described in connection with` the. accompanying drawing, in which: ,d

"Fig;u 1 shows a, strip of metal from which the slider is formed; 1 d

Fig. 2 illustrates theformlng of the slider 5 blanks; d

F ig.,3 is a side view ofthe formed slider blank; i Fig. 4 is a plan view of the slider blank shown 'in Figl; L,

Fig.` 5 is a section taken on the line" 5-5 of 1o Figli:` t.

Fig. `6 is aview similar tofFig. `5after`thefpull attaching lug has been formed; d )1d l Iig. 7 is alongitudinal section through the j lug has been formed;` f d H d ,i

1 Fig. a vis latsideview` or the sluier bent to anal form, showing the methodof attaching thepull Fig. 9 is a broken plan view of the coinpleted 20 slider, showing the pull device attached.

The slider may be formed from an elongated d strip of metal l0 of the same thickness as it is desired to give the wings `of the finished slider. The diamond-shapedprojections ii are formed in the strip I0 by means of embossing dieswhich emboss and stretch the metal at the desired intervals along the strip, as shown in Fig. 2. Parallel slits I2 are cut in the strip I0 in about the location and of the shape illustrated in Fig. 2, 30 after which the metal between the slits is stretched by means of a punch to form lugs'iS of the shape shown in Fig. 3. If each wing of the slider is to have a separate pull device, two lugs i3 are formed on the same side of the strip I0 for each slider blank, one at the right andthe otherat the left of each embossed projection Ii. The wings i4 and l5 are next blanked out of the strip I0', as

` shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, so as to have each pair of wings` connected by an embossed projection Il.`

The lateral edges of one or both` of the wings I4 and i 5 are next formed toprovide guiding means, as by being bent up to provide flanges I6,

guide the slider along the interlocking members of a separable fastener and also stiien the wings longitudinally. 'I'he lug I3 is then stilened by" means of dies to provide a tongue i 1, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. 'Ihe tongue il strengthens and supports the lug i3 and prevents it from becoming bent and deformed when under strain. Other ways of stiffening the struck up lug can be used, as by doubling it into a curved or V-shaped cross section" slider blank"` of Fight` after the pullattaching 15 and the attaching projections I9 spread apart, as

The wings-Il and I5 are next bent to parallelism, as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, so that the embossed projection Il lies inside thebend and directly between the wings. The embossed projection I I preferably extends longitudinally inside the wings from the bend down to at least a transverse line joining the outer wing corners, as shown.- in Fig. 9.` The wings maybe bent together over dies or forming tools which compress and compact the embossed projection I I and give it the desired smooth diverging surfaces for guiding the interlocking members of a separable ias-A tener. The slider blanks may be annealed or heat treated between operations, if desired, but

preferably not after the final bending and forme ing. so that the set which the metal is given in bending is utilized to give the sliderLstrength,

stiffness and hardness to resistrthe abrasion of the interlocking members in use.'

A pull device I8 is' blanked out of sheet metal illustrated in Fig. 8, in orderto permit the pull deviceto be h the projections I9 back into the plane of the pull device, as shown in Fig.,9. The vcompletedslider is" ready for afilxing to a fastener after tumbling and' rigid enough to withstand severe operating strains.` The slider yis materially shortened by locating the reinforcing projection ydirectly besrtween the wingsI therebyeliminating the neck portion and external stiifening means which have slider, being short and compact, resists both expansion and' contraction vbecause the distorting mozmierits'are brought close to the center of the slider. Since the inturned edge flanges of the secured Vto the lug I8 by contractingY been commonly employed in the past. Thel on said slider blank.

wings stiifen them, it will be seen that substantially the entire length of the slider is stiffened either by the wing flanges or by the embossed reinforcing projection between the wings which extends down to about the place where the flanges begin. The slider is thus symmetrically reinforced and both wings equally stiifened.

'Ihe term embossinfis used herein and in the appended claims to denne that process of striking upa projection on a sheet metal piece which comprises a combination bending and drawing operation formed by a die cavity shaped the same asthe desired shape of the projection,

and by a punch having a corresponding shape operating on opposite sides'of the ilat metal.

The invention is not limited to the particular details or method of construction herein shown and described, but includes various modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:

1. AThe method of making separable fastener sliders which comprises embossing a diamondshaped projection in a piece of sheet metal, cutting out from said piece of sheet metal a blank 2 comprising flatslider wings Yjoined end to end by the relatively narrow embossed projection, said projection extending into the body portion of said `wings from said relatively narrow portion, forming flanges on the sides of said wings, and bending said wings into parallelism with said projection on the inner side of the bend and said flanges projecting toward each other to form a slider with a Y-shaped channel.

2. The method defined in claim 1 wherein a 35 pull attaching loop is formed in one of said wings by cutting and striking up material from the flat metal of the wing before the bending operation GIDEON SUNDBACK. 

